I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of flame cutting steel slabs or the like in a strip casting apparatus, in which the flame cutting machine accompanies the strip, at the strip casting speed, during the flame cutting. Furthermore, the invention relates to a strip casting apparatus for steel slabs or the like for carrying out the method and having a flame cutting machine which, for the duration of the severance, accompanies the strip, in the direction of the strip feed, over a predetermined flame cutting distance at the casting speed.
II. Description of the Prior Art
In carrying out known methods, one started from a wide range of possible casting speeds and was concerned with being able, by expensive technology at the flame cutting machine or device, to be able to move with any theoretically possible casting speed.
In order not to damage the rollers in the roller bed of the strip casting apparatus during the flame cutting, an expensive technology was also previously necessary in these apparatuses, by means of which the rollers, which were approached by the flame during the severance of the slab, were to be lowered. In this connection it is to be noted that in the known apparatuses, different slab cross sections and/or slab materials resulted in a different accompaniment distance for the flame cutting device. The roller bed had to be adapted to the longest possible accompaniment distance. A further disadvantage was that, because of the different accompaniment distances, additional devices such as probes, devices for conveying away the cut-offs and the like had to be newly adjusted or adapted in another manner to the slab thickness and/or type of material.
Other ways of avoiding damage to the rollers by the burner are to provide a so-called cutting path by gaps in the roller assembly corresponding to the substantially fixed, optimum cutting and casting speeds and to no longer lower the rollers, or to construct the roller assembly as a roller assembly table and to quickly draw it, through half a roller spacing, below the burner when the latter approaches a roller. Both possibilities are neither sufficient nor economical, since the number of rollers cannot be reduced due to tipping of short pieces. The number of possible cutting and casting speeds without effect on the cutting speed hinders a satisfactory solution.